Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 15 May 2025 | Matt Trollope

Last month, Nicole Pratt was in Brisbane for Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers ties against Colombia and Kazakhstan when it suddenly dawned on her.

“I had a moment today where I was like: ‘What year did I actually start?’,” she told tennis.com.au at the Queensland Tennis Centre, “and it was like ‘oh my God, it was 2015!’

“The role that I get to do and have done, I can’t believe it. Ten years – wow.”

Indeed, Pratt has served as coach of the Australian women’s national team for a decade, alongside her roles as travelling coach to some of the country’s top female athletes, and Tennis Australia’s Women’s Coach Lead.

Currently she is working with Kimberly Birrell and Storm Hunter, the former enjoying a career-best season, the latter making a successful comeback to the sport after a year away, and both of whom are stars of the Culture Amp Australian Billie Jean King Cup team.

There’s nothing Pratt would rather be doing more.

“It was a dream, to be honest; it was a dream job. If someone said to me, ‘Nicole, what would you like to do post playing?’ I would be like: ‘Coach, captain, involvement in the BJK Cup team moving forward’,” she said.

“It was something I’d definitely aspire to be a part of, and I’ve had that privilege of doing that.

“I never take the privilege I have for granted. The privilege I have is to coach and work with some of the best players in the country; every tie, for me, is an opportunity to just strengthen the relationships that I have with the players.

“It’s a great challenge for me as a coach, with the captain of course, to come up with different strategies; how we’re going to have our players go out and beat the competition in front of us, and how to maximise the week for our players so it’s not just about this week – it’s about upcoming weeks out on tour as well.”

Birrell and Hunter are each thriving on court under Pratt’s guidance and have benefitted immensely from those Billie Jean King Cup weeks.

Hunter scored two impressive doubles victories alongside Ellen Perez at the same venue she ruptured her Achilles tendon 12 months earlier, an injury which sidelined her until late February 2025. She has continued to combine with Perez and is into the WTA 1000 quarterfinals in Rome, perfect preparation ahead of a tilt at Roland Garros.

Roland Garros is where Birrell, for the first time, enters the main draw directly on her own ranking. Having recently cracked the top 60, the Queenslander is currently competing on clay in Europe; at a WTA 125 event in Spain she scored a victory over former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who went on to reach the last 16 in Rome.

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“I’ve just been so lucky to have Pratty in my corner, and in particular in the last 12 months, but throughout my whole career basically,” Birrell said.

“She’s been there, and she’s such an advocate for women’s tennis.

“I think we make a great team. I love being able to share these experiences with her and travel a little bit more with her, and I’ve just learned so much. She’s such a wealth of information; I don’t think many people know more about the women’s game than she does.

“To have someone like that in your corner is pretty amazing.”

That advocacy to which Birrell refers is also reflected in Pratt’s work to establish Tennis Australia’s Coach Connect program.

The program serves as a network for women tennis coaches around the country, better engaging and educating them through mentoring and professional development opportunities.

“For me personally, it’s not so much about the number [of coaches], it’s creating opportunities for women coaches to thrive, to be recognised for the amazing work that they do in their communities and the inspiration that provides to so many players,” Pratt told Australian Tennis Magazine.

“The challenges and barriers for women coaches are real, and if we can assist in supporting and creating limitless possibilities for coaches, regardless of where they coach within the pathway, then everyone benefits.”

Pratt’s role as an elite-level coach has also helped the current Billie Jean King Cup captain Sam Stosur – and former captain Alicia Molik – thrive in their roles thanks to their supportive and collaborative relationships.

Pratt said this camaraderie made Billie Jean King Cup weeks on the calendar especially rewarding, and that it was slightly surreal to work alongside both Stosur and Molik as a coach when they were previously playing teammates.

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“I coached Alicia towards the back end of her career [before] she was captain and then I was coming in as coach, and I even helped out Sam a little towards the end of her career as coach,” Pratt reflected. “But equally, we’re all playing peers.

“To have such a strong relationship with both Alicia and Sam has made the transition [as Billie Jean King Cup team coach] easy for me, and I hope they say the same thing about myself – that I’ve helped their transition into the role of captain to be fairly seamless.

“Like, I can’t wait for these [BJK Cup] weeks because the enjoyment, the fun that we all have, the ups if you win and the downs if you don’t – the accumulation of experiences, I believe, is what makes our sport so special.”